Sports

Wednesday, July 14, 1999

Junior Leaguers fall in tournament finals

By JON FULBRIGHT

Staff Writer

BIG LAKE, July 14 1999 -- When the Pecos Junior League All-Stars were
hitting at the start of Tuesday's District 4 championship game, they were
also making enough errors to keep San Angelo Western in the game.

But when Western starting hitting in the fourth and fifth innings of
the game at Big Lake, Pecos couldn't come up with enough hits, or take
advantage of enough San Angelo errors, to stay in the game.

The result was an 11-7 loss, which sends Western on to the sub-sectional
tournament this weekend.

"We just didn't hit the ball today. They wanted to hit it and we didn't,"
said manager Gary Garcia.

Pecos had forced a deciding game in the double-elimination tournament
on Monday with a 13-12 victory but on Tuesday five San Angelo's first six
runs were unearned off starter Barney Rodriguez.

Pecos, meanwhile, got a four runs in the second and third innings off
starter Kevin Meek, three of them earned. Ruvel Carrasco drove in two with
a bases-loaded single, and in the third Matthew Levario scored Rigo Ramirez
with a single, then came in when Western missed a chance to double David
Elkins off first base, after he reached on an infield hit. First baseman
Brad Jackson missed the throw from left fielder Neal Huey, allowing Levario
to score.

Western tied the game in their next at-bat, when Tony Aguilar threw
away a Megan Matthews grounder, and then Rodriguez dropped a tap near the
mound by Meek with two outs. Western got an earned run in the fourth to
take a 5-4 lead, but it came only after Rodriguez hit Mark Cobb with a
pitch, then gave up singles to Matthews and J.D. Shore.

Levario couldn't come up with a grounder by Jackson to open the fifth
inning, but after that Western relied on hits to push six more runs across.

Jonathan O'Neal scored Jackson with a single, and after an infield hit
by Huey Chris Whitsell doubled down the line in left to make it 8-4. Isaiah
Armendariz replaced Rodriguez on the mound and got one out, but Cobb then
reached on an infield single and Matthews followed with an two-run hit,
went to second when Elkins bobbled the ball, and scored the final run on
a single by Shore.

"Mentally...we weren't in it. We played the same way we did against
Tri-County," Garcia said, referring to a 10-4 loss a week earlier that
dropped Pecos into the loser's bracket.

Meek turned a double play after a leadoff hit by Carrasco in the fourth,
and retired the side in order in the fifth before began having trouble
finding the strike zone. But several times Pecos' hitters weren't patient
enough to draw a walk.

They did get a run in the sixth on an Aguilar ground out after a Fuentes
single, and got two more in the seventh, when Robbie Ontiveros walked on
four pitches, moved to second on an error by Cobb on Ramirez' grounder
and scored on a ground out by Rodriguez. Ramirez scored when Shore booted
Levario's grounder to shortstop cutting the lead to four.

Meek then walked Marcario Salgado on a 3-2 pitch, after falling behind
in the count 3-0. But Fuentes and Aguilar didn't fare as well, as they
both were fanned by Meek on 3-2 pitches, ending the game.

The loss leaves Pecos' Senior League All-Stars as the lone remaining
team in tournament play. They went unbeaten through District 4 play, outscoring
their opponents, 64-7, and will now play in the sub-sectionals on Friday
at Lubbock, with the time and opponent to be announced.